IEA News
The 15th November 2024 marks European Music Therapy Day and Percussion Play, the world-leading designer and manufacturer of outdoor musical instruments, highlights how music therapy in the great outdoors, can benefit people of all ages.
Founded in 2014 across 30 countries in Europe, including the UK, European Music Therapy Day sees music therapists, the specialists in the field of music and health, hold open house events and workshops to help spread the word about the benefits.
With a diverse selection of musical and percussion instruments and sound sculptures, Percussion Play is committed to making musical expression accessible to everyone, everywhere, so that everyone can benefit from outdoor music-making. Percussion Play’s instruments provide opportunities for quality music-making in the outdoors for all adults and children, both those with no musical experience and those who were active musicians in the past.
Music therapy benefits cognitive, emotional, and social issues as well as the physical needs of people. It has proven to be an effective way to help alleviate symptoms and provide a sense of inner calm to people. For this reason, music therapy is becoming an increasingly popular form of holistic 'healing'.
Percussion Play’s White Paper, Music as Medicine highlights how music acts as a beneficial treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The origins of the music therapy profession are inherently “intertwined with the treatment of trauma”.
Music therapy was created initially as a trauma response to aid the treatment of World War II veterans. Much of the research identifies the therapeutic technique with the treatment of those suffering from post-traumatic stress as a result of experiences in warzones, natural disasters and physical violence.
Research has demonstrated that PTSD sufferers respond particularly well to musical therapies due to the relationships between stimuli provoked by music and the access to and post-processing of traumatic events.
Music is uniquely catered to achieve this since they stimulate recollections of traumatic memories. Once these recollections are brought to the forefront of the mind in a controlled setting, the sufferer can feel that they have more authority over the memory, in a manner which allows them to engage and interact with the memory, to navigate a rational path through the trauma.
Jody Ashfield, Co-Founder, and CEO of Percussion Play comments on the research “Music can be a great way to express yourself even when you may not know how to. Outdoor musical instruments are perfect for people to experiment and express themselves through music without the humdrum of traditional scales. The majority of our instruments are tuned to the pentatonic scale which makes playing them effortless as the notes within the scale all harmonize with one another, meaning there are no discordant notes, compelling even the non-musical to pick up a mallet and play, producing new and original melodies each time.”
Whilst particular attention has been paid to the effects of music therapies for those who suffer from PTSD, studies have also been conducted concerning the role of music therapies in the treatment of trauma in relation to children, who, like women and minority groups, are likely to experience trauma as a result of poverty, abuse, homelessness, or displacement. Trials in the use of music and art therapies with traumatized children, adults and families have been ongoing since the 1950s, with positive results.
The 15th November 2024 marks European Music Therapy Day and Percussion Play, the world-leading designer and manufacturer of outdoor musical instruments, highlights how music therapy in the great outdoors, can benefit people of all ages.
Founded in 2014 across 30 countries in Europe, including the UK, European Music Therapy Day sees music therapists, the specialists in the field of music and health, hold open house events and workshops to help spread the word about the benefits.
With a diverse selection of musical and percussion instruments and sound sculptures, Percussion Play is committed to making musical expression accessible to everyone, everywhere, so that everyone can benefit from outdoor music-making. Percussion Play’s instruments provide opportunities for quality music-making in the outdoors for all adults and children, both those with no musical experience and those who were active musicians in the past.
Music therapy benefits cognitive, emotional, and social issues as well as the physical needs of people. It has proven to be an effective way to help alleviate symptoms and provide a sense of inner calm to people. For this reason, music therapy is becoming an increasingly popular form of holistic 'healing'.
Percussion Play’s White Paper, Music as Medicine highlights how music acts as a beneficial treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The origins of the music therapy profession are inherently “intertwined with the treatment of trauma”. Music therapy was created initially as a trauma response to aid the treatment of World War II veterans. Much of the research identifies the therapeutic technique with the treatment of those suffering from post-traumatic stress as a result of experiences in warzones, natural disasters and physical violence.
Research has demonstrated that PTSD sufferers respond particularly well to musical therapies due to the relationships between stimuli provoked by music and the access to and post-processing of traumatic events. Music is uniquely catered to achieve this since they stimulate recollections of traumatic memories.
Once these recollections are brought to the forefront of the mind in a controlled setting, the sufferer can feel that they have more authority over the memory, in a manner which allows them to engage and interact with the memory, to navigate a rational path through the trauma.
Jody Ashfield, Co-Founder, and CEO of Percussion Play comments on the research “Music can be a great way to express yourself even when you may not know how to. Outdoor musical instruments are perfect for people to experiment and express themselves through music without the humdrum of traditional scales. The majority of our instruments are tuned to the pentatonic scale which makes playing them effortless as the notes within the scale all harmonize with one another, meaning there are no discordant notes, compelling even the non-musical to pick up a mallet and play, producing new and original melodies each time.”
Whilst particular attention has been paid to the effects of music therapies for those who suffer from PTSD, studies have also been conducted concerning the role of music therapies in the treatment of trauma in relation to children, who, like women and minority groups, are likely to experience trauma as a result of poverty, abuse, homelessness, or displacement. Trials in the use of music and art therapies with traumatized children, adults and families have been ongoing since the 1950s, with positive results.
Percussion Play is the world-leading manufacturer of outdoor musical instruments. With a diverse selection of musical and percussion instruments and sound sculptures, they are committed to making musical expression accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Percussion Play creates exciting, inclusive outdoor musical instruments for all ages and abilities to explore - bringing the joy of playing percussion to the great outdoors.
Specifically designed for challenging outdoor environments including; playgrounds, parks, trails, schools, family attractions, hospitals and senior living, the instruments are fully inclusive, accessible and enjoyed by all who encounter them.
In May 2024, Percussion Play was honored with the prestigious King’s Awards for Enterprise; International Trade 2024. Since the company was founded over a decade ago, nearly 90% of its products are shipped overseas with its top five markets being the USA, Australia, Denmark, France, and Lithuania. The company also has over 200 representatives in over 50 countries. Percussion Play was previously named a winner of the 2021 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise,
Composer AR, is Percussion Play’s new, industry-leading App, launched in Spring 2024, which helps everyone to bring music projects to life, before the instruments are even in the ground. The state-of-the-art App allows users to place any Percussion Play instrument within a real-life setting, in real-time and play it. This interactive app allows users to listen to how each instrument sounds as they play the instrument in the app.
